The 5th Passenger
by EsmeAmelia
Summary: Hunchback of Notre Dame fic. Remember that band of gypsies in the opening prolouge? What if young Esmeralda was with them? Rating will probably change to PG with future chapters.
1. The Journey Begins

"The 5th Passenger"  
  
Story Summary: The tragic night on the Seine in the opening prolouge, only this is the story of the only passenger who escapes.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
The little gypsy stared at the gondela. This was the ship that would carry her and her adoptive family to Paris.  
Paris. It was a new word for her. The little gypsy had been told that it was the name of a wonderful city full of grand buildings and opportunities for a better life. Exactly why they were going to Paris was beyond the gypsy's knowledge, but then, there were a lot of things she didn't know. Such as why people were so mean to gypsies, why they were always on the run, and why she didn't have birth parents. Why Rossetta and Roberto, her adoptive parents, would have to pay such a large sum to get into Paris. And why Rossetta had given birth to such a hideous baby.  
It had been only a few months before when her little brother was born. She remembered how she had run away when she first saw the baby; it seemed so silly now. Rossetta had been able to gradually coax her into loving the baby. Her five-year-old heart was open and pure, thus she was able to welcome her brother in.  
Other gypsies weren't so open. Perhaps their constant ridicluling of the baby was one of the reasons why they never stayed in one place for long. The little gypsy didn't think she'd ever understand why, but so long as she was with her family, she would follow them wherever they needed to be.  
And now, whatever the reason, here she was, moments from another journey. After staring at the gondela for a few more moments, she carefully stepped inside.  
"Hey, what do you think you're doing???" yelled a gruff voice.  
She turned to find Gerald, the man who was escorting them to Paris, standing on the bank with her parents and another man she didn't recognize.  
  
"Get out of there!!" Gerald yelled.  
"Please, don't yell at her," pleaded Roberto, "She's only a child!"  
"Child or not, she still entered the boat without permission!" scolded Gerald. "Do you realize what she could have done?? She could have made the boat float away, leaving all of us stranded! I'm warning you, that girl had better behave, or she could lead to all of us being discovered!!"  
"All right," sighed Rossetta. She turned to the little gypsy. "Come on out, honey. You heard what he said."  
"I didn't mean anything bad!" the little gypsy protested.  
"I know, but come on out anyway," said Rossetta, "We're leaving soon."  
The little gypsy frowned, but did as she was told. She climbed out of the gondela and joined her parents on the snowy bank.  
"That's a good girl," said Rossetta. She wrapped her arm around her little daughter, with her other arm tightly clutching her baby.  
The little gypsy tickled her baby brother's cheek, making him giggle. "Mother," she asked, "will the people in Paris like us?"  
Rossetta smiled. "Some people will always dislike you for no reason, but you can't let it get the best of you. Don't worry about people liking you. Think instead about the adventure we're about to have!"  
"A brand new place to explore," said the little gypsy.  
"Yes," said Rossetta, "Now, do you have your amulet safely hidden?"  
The little gypsy nodded as she touched the necklace she wore under her dress. "When you wear this woven band, you hold the city in your hand," she murmered, "Right, Mother?"  
"Right," said Rossetta, "Remember that if you ever become seperated from us."  
"But we won't get separated!" said the girl, "You won't ever leave me!"  
"No," said Rossetta, "I won't ever leave you. We'll be together, all of us. Don't worry, we're a family. I won't ever leave you."  
The little girl smiled and nodded. She continued tickling the baby's cheek as Rossetta carressed her hair.  
"Stay close, my little Esmeralda," she whispered. 


	2. Attack

"The 5th Passenger"  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Stroke......stroke.....  
That was all Esmeralda could hear as she lay at the bottom of the boat. She saw nothing, for the blanket she was wrapped up in covered her face. She just pressed her ear against the bottom of the boat and listened to the rythmic sound of the oar splashing against the water.  
Stroke....stroke.....  
She pulled the blanket tightly around herself, but she was still numb with cold. She tried to breathe on her hands to warm them, but her lips were too stiff to blow right. She hoped her little baby brother was warm enough in his mother's arms.  
Stroke.....stroke....waaaaahhh!!  
Her thoughts were inturrupted by the piercing wail of her baby brother.  
"Shut it up, will you??" whispered Roberto.  
"We'll be spotted!" scolded the other man.  
"Hush, little one," Rossetta whispered as she desperately tried to calm her baby.  
Esmeralda held her breath, fearful of making any sound. Her tiny fingers clutched the blanket tighter, as if that would somehow protect everyone from harm. She remained in this state until she felt a grinding vibration under her. The boat seemed to come alive, like the earth was shifting, or a sleeping giant had just awakened and was now causing the ground to shake. The wood pressed against her head, making her teeth chatter.  
And then...nothing. Total silence. She didn't even hear the stroking of the oar. After a few moments, she felt Rossetta's hand touching her head through the blanket.  
"Esmeralda," she said, "stay here until we say it's safe to come out."  
"Yes, Mama," Esmeralda whispered in a muffled voice. So, she thought, they had arrived. This was Paris. How she wanted to get out from under the blanket and look around! But she lay still, faithful to what she had told her mother, and listened intensely to what was going on.  
Four pairs of feet carefully stepped out of the boat and onto the icy shore. The slow crunch, crunch of their footsteps told Esmeralda that they were as frightened as she was.  
Gerald's walking stick tapped the snow a few times, like he was surveying the area, then he turned toward the gypsies.  
"Four guilders for safe passage into Paris," his gruff voice whispered.  
Esmeralda had been told it was a large sum of money that her parents would have to give in order to get into Paris.  
Thwapp!!!  
The sudden sound of an arrow flying pierced the softness. What had just happened?? Esmeralda had promised that she would lie low until it was safe, but this sound filled her with too much fear. She had to get out from under the blanket and see what was happening.  
She carefully peeked over the edge of the boat and froze when she saw what was happening. An arrow was sticking out of Gerald's walking stick: an arrow that had barely missed its mark. Suddenly several soldiers emerged from the shadows and surrounded the gypsies with spears. Esmeralda sucked in her breath as Roberto stepped between Rossetta and the spearheads, trying to protect his wife and baby.  
Then came the sound of hoofbeats, making the ground vibrate with every step. Esmeralda turned around to see what was coming next.  
A dark shadow of a figure on horseback appeared on a wall. Roberto's eyes widened in terror as he recognized the figure. He feared for his wife and children, knowing full well that there wasn't much hope now.  
"Judge Claude Frollo!" he whispered.  
Esmeralda shivered as the figure came into view. She had never before seen such a dark, cold man. His sinister eyes glared down at the gypsies with a stare that was colder than the snow around him, and a scowl that seemed permenently etched onto his face. Esmeralda shrunk back, almost believing that those eyes would actually inflict pain if they saw her.  
"Bring these gypsy vermin to the Palace of Justice," he commanded in a deep, menacing voice.  
Instantly the soldiers seized the men and put them in handcuffs. Roberto gritted his teeth as the soldiers began dragging him away by his wrists. He looked back at his wife. She would follow him, and there was nothing he could do to help her. But far behind her, Roberto saw the eyes of someone who might still be able to escape her fate. The little girl in the boat whom the soldiers hadn't yet noticed.  
"Esmeralda!" Roberto hissed through his teeth, "Save yourself! Run!"  
Esmeralda hesitated. She had promised to stay in the boat until it was safe. How could she possibly run away when her parents were being dragged off in chains? She might never see them again.  
"RUN!!!!" Roberto hissed again.  
The desperate tone of his voice superseded Esmeralda's fear, causing her to step out of the boat and run. She was barely six feet away when the sound of Rossetta screaming superseded her urge to run away.  
Esmeralda turned around and looked. A soldier had grabbed Rossetta's arm and was reaching for the bundle in her arms.  
"You! What are you hiding??" he demanded.  
Esmeralda gasped. The baby!!!!  
"Stolen goods, no doubt," declared Frollo, "Take them from her!!"  
No! 


	3. Escape

"The 5th Passenger"  
  
Chapter 3  
Rossetta's elbow shot up and jabbed the soldier in the face, causing him to momentarily release her from his grasp. The gypsy woman seized the moment and fled away with her baby in her arms.  
"Take care of the others," Frollo ordered his men. "I'll deal with her." With that, he dug his spurs deep into his horse's flesh, making him charge after the getaways at full speed. In a second they were out of sight.  
A chill went down little Esmeralda's spine. Her mother and brother were being persued by the monster. Wouldn't the baby cry out now? And if he did, wouldn't Frollo spare a mother and child? She shuddered at the realization that that notion was probably wrong.  
"Look! One's escaping!"  
"Don't bother. It's only a child."  
"You fool! She could tell the other gypsies! Frollo wants us to let no one escape!"  
The gypsy's tiny body trembled. They were going to chain her up just like the others! Like a startled dear, her siff little legs were suddenly fleeing at the highest speed of which they were capable.  
Where could she go? She had nowhere to go. Where does one go when she has nowhere to go? In the mind of a little child, she finds her mother. Yes, Esmeralda thought, she would have to locate her mother. Her mother would take care of her.  
Now how could she locate her mother when she was being madly persued like a helpless rabbit being persued by a hungry fox? She began to feel like she was a rabbit, picking up speed as she moved in large leaps, her feet barely touching the ground. She could hear loud drumbeats of thunder; whether they were coming from the horse's hooves or her own heart beating she couldn't tell. The freezing air was no longer a sensation in her body: the perspiration from running had generated heat.  
The elusive little gypsy kept to the shadows as best as she could, but she still heard the pounding of hoofbeats. The tall dark shapes of the buildings seemed determined to block her from escape and insure her capture.  
Soon the girl got it into her head that if the buildings were determined to hamper her, she would simply have to extricate herself by conquering the buildings.  
She chose a house with a tree in front of it to make her move. Never before had she attempted to climb over a house, but she felt this was her only chance for escape. And after all, she was a Gypsy! Gypsies were agile and strong. Surely she would be able to do this!  
Esmeralda scampered under the tree and gripped onto the lowest branch. Instantly the grinding bark began sawing away at her bare hands. She ground her teeth at the sting of the branch and the sensation that her throat was in her stomach. The branch tore at her tender skin as she swung her legs up and hoisted herself onto the wood. Without pausing for breath, she hoisted herself onto a higher branch, then a higher branch.  
At last she was level with the second floor window. She carefully inched up the branch, intending to somehow get onto the sill and climb up the wall. She kept her eyes focused straight ahead, fearful to look down and see how high she was.  
Then suddenly....SNAP! The branch broke. For a moment Esmeralda was flying. Then the sensation instantly changed from flying to falling. Most people in this situation would probably crash to the ground, but the gypsy's quick reflexes enabled her to grab hold of the windowsill and -straining her little muscles- push herself onto the sill.  
Esmeralda gasped and pressed her hands against the window, then quickly removed them. The glass window felt excrutingatly gelid even to her already-numb hands. She turned around and pressed her covered back against the window, franticly trying to sort out her options.  
All of a sudden, the window yielded to her weight, sending her tumbling into the house. 


	4. Mathilde

The 5th Passenger

AN: Okay...it's been...years since I continued this, but I finally decided to go back to it. Thanks to the reviewers, in case any of you are still reading this. Don't know when the next chapter will be up, seeing as how I've got college, work, and a strong Star Wars obsession now, but I promise you that I won't abandon this story. My stories may hibernate for a while, but they don't die.

Chapter 4

Esmeralda landed with a forceful crash onto the floor of the house. The hard floor shot pain through her body, which aggravated the discomfort that her body already contained. Once the momentary shock from the shift in gravity had passed, it took her eyes a few seconds to focus, and then she realized that there wasn't much to focus on. Apart from the slim streak of moonlight peeking into the window, the room was buried in complete darkness.

"Who's there? What are you doing here?"

Esmeralda sprung up into a sitting position - a reflex reaction to the unfamiliar voice. She might have done more if the voice hadn't sounded juvenile, which meant that it was not a big threat.

"Who are you?"

Should she answer? The young voice was not a threat in itself, but the voice was probably not alone. She silently brought her knees up to her chest, as though that would make her invisible.

"Don't try to hide - I can see you."

Now she could hear soft footsteps - the figure to whom the voice belonged was approaching her. In the dim light, she could only see a silhouette of a small figure in a nightgown, slowly enlarging as it came closer to her.

"Are you all right?" the silhouette asked.

Esmeralda pushed her eyebrows down into a glare at the figure. "Who do you think you are?"

"I'm Mathilde," the voice said, "and you just fell through my window, so I think under these circumstances I should be the one asking you who you think you are...oh dang, the fire's gone out." The silhouette walked a few feet away from her to a fireplace in which tiny red-orange jewels of burning coals lay. She grabbed a metal stick from the wall and used it to poke the coals until flames sprouted out of them.

Esmeralda cautiously rose to her feet, the warmth of the fire being too large a temptation for her to resist. She hobbled over to the fireplace and stuck her numb hands in front of the fire, her emotions palliated for a moment from the wonderful heat.

After a few moments, she dared to turn her head up to look at the child who had brought this fire. She had a head of blonde curls that rested on her shoulders every which-way, the top of her head tussled up from the bed. The top of Esmeralda's head reached the tip of her shoulders - the girl was eight, perhaps nine years old.

"Are you cold?" the one who called herself Mathilde asked.

_Are you cold?_ What a stupid thing to say! Who _wouldn't _be cold after having been outside in that frigid air?

Mathilde reached over and touched Esmeralda's cold hands, giving them additional warmth and causing Esmeralda to abandon her thoughts of how stupid this girl was. "Hey," she said gently, "you could stay here for the night if you want. I have room in my bed."

Stay here, with this glorious fire and a warm bed? When comparing this notion to the idea of going back into the cold, Esmeralda almost found herself immediately saying yes, but stopping herself before the word escaped her lips. She thought of her mother and baby brother, still out there under the pursuit of that horrid judge.

"I...I can't," she said in a small voice. "I need to find my mother."

"Your mother?" Mathilde repeated.

"And my baby brother," continued Esmeralda.

"What happened to them?" asked Mathilde.

Esmeralda gulped. "A monster chased my mother away."

"A monster?"

"He was like a monster," said Esmeralda. "He was big, scary, and mean. He wanted to steal my baby brother from my mother."

Both girls were silent for a moment, looking into each other's eyes in the fire's glow. Esmeralda saw uneasiness in Mathilde's face, most likely from the story she had just told.

"Madam, we have reason to believe that someone we are after is taking refuge in your house!" a gruff voice shouted from downstairs.

Esmeralda gasped. "The soldiers! They're after me!"

Mathilde gripped the younger girl's shoulders. "Quick, listen to me," she said in a hasty whisper. "Go down the hall, through the door at the very end at the hall, and down the stairs. You can then slip out the back door without them spotting you. Got that?"

"Yes," Esmeralda breathed, hoping she was right.

"After you're outside," Mathilde continued, "head for the Notre Dame cathedral - that's the big building with the two towers. You'll be safe there."

"What about my mother?" Esmeralda almost shouted.

"Shhh!" Mathilde hissed. "Listen, your mother probably went there too. Going to Notre Dame is probably the best chance you'll have of finding her."

"Why?" said Esmeralda.

"No time for questions," Mathilde said firmly. "You need to get out of here if you want to escape."

The loud creaking of boards from heavy feet searching the downstairs told Esmeralda that the older girl was right. She clearly saw the image of her mother and her little brother in her head, begging her to find them.

"Thank you," she whispered quickly before turning around and sprinting at full speed down the hall.

After she closed the hall door behind her, she heard the soldiers' footsteps growing louder, heading toward the bedroom where she had just been. As she ran down the stairs, she hoped that she hadn't gotten that kind girl into trouble.


End file.
